At Stablewood Springs, the exterior living space is as important as the interior space.

At Stablewood Springs, the exterior living space is as important as the interior space.

Photo: COURTESY PHOTO, STABLEWOOD SPRINGS RESORT

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Photo: Mike Fisher

Resort's owners file for Chapter 11

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The partnership that owns the Hill Country's swanky Stablewood Springs Resort filed for bankruptcy this week after all but running out of money.

The resort, nestled along the Guadalupe River on about 500 acres in Hunt, west of Kerrville, was planned as a $50 million development comprising 105 villas, a restaurant, a fitness center, a spa, swimming pools and event facilities. But not all of it has panned out.

Owner Stablewood Springs Resort LP needs additional financing that will allow it to continue operating and to execute a new business plan for the resort. A court hearing on the financing request is set for Friday.

“It's business as usual out there today,” said David Gragg, a bankruptcy lawyer for the partnership. “The plan, short term and long term, is to get a cash infusion and use part of that to energize the sales process going forward.”

The villas, of which only 24 have been built, were originally envisioned as second homes for residents. But the villas have been mostly rented out as hotel rooms.

That rental strategy has had mixed results. While the villas have been fully booked on weekends, they've largely sat empty during the week, Brian Tucker, the resort's president and CEO, said during a bankruptcy court hearing Wednesday.

Still, Gragg said the partnership eventually wants to build the remaining 81 villas.

To generate greater cash flow, the partnership wants to market fractional ownership interests in the existing villas while continuing to rent them.

The partnership needs cash to implement the plan. It only had about $22,500 combined in its bank accounts as of Dec. 5 and projected that it would run out of cash by Friday, a court filing indicates.

The partnership wants bankruptcy court approval to borrow $850,000 to fund operations and kick off a marketing program for fractional interests in the villas.

The partnership and a subsidiary filed Chapter 11 on Monday, listing combined assets of $11.2 million and $25.2 million in combined liabilities.

Stablewood is the brainchild of Tom J. Fatjo Jr., a Houston entrepreneur who built several companies, including Browning-Ferris Industries, at one time one of the largest solid-waste management companies.

Fatjo and related entities hold about a 90 percent stake in the Stablewood partnership, Gragg said at Wednesday's hearing.

Fatjo provided about $10 million to buy the land for the resort, clear the property, build roads and install a central water system.

Additional financing to complete the resort was provided by Axys Capital Total Return Fund LLC and Netherlands businessman Paul J.A. “Lex” van Hessen. The loans were secured by the assets of the resort and some of its affiliates.

In addition, Fatjo provided personal guaranties in connection with the loans, the court filing shows.

This year, Fatjo provided $6 million of his own money so the Stablewood partnership could stay current on its payments to van Hessen, according to the filing. It owes van Hessen $9.2 million.

The partnership has tried to raise additional capital, including $1 million from a prospective limited partner. It also obtained a financing commitment of $4 million from a Cleveland company, the court document adds.

But the partnership couldn't close on either because van Hessen objected to the financing arrangements.

“The debtors are unsure why van Hessen has become so obdurate, when it clearly is in his best interests for the debtors to continue operations,” the court filing states.